Saving a Traitor
by OUATLovr
Summary: One-shot. "Then he has betrayed us all." Oreius doesn't understand why Aslan could forgive Edmund for betraying them until he sees him bound in the White Witch's camp.


When Oreius heard the magical horn piercing through the otherwise silent camp, he immediately reached for his sword and took off in the direction it came from without a second thought. It was his duty to protect the future Kings and Queens, after all. He had seen the horn on the elder girl's belt, and if she were blowing it now it could only mean trouble, for it was the hour of the day when the camp was supposed to be at rest before they continued on with their preparations for war. Behind him, he could hear other creatures getting up and running towards the noise.

He reached the small clearing in time to see a wolf lunging at the boy, Peter. He trotted forward to intervene, holding out his sword threateningly to the evil brute circling Peter, but was stopped by Aslan, who was standing with one paw on another wolf, holding it down.

He glanced around for the young queens and finally saw them huddled together in a tree, eyes wide with terror. The older one was holding tightly to her horn, as if she thought she would need to use it again, even in the presence of Aslan.

Oreius glanced at Aslan searchingly. He could have run the wolf through in an instant.

"This is Peter's fight," Aslan said softly, and Peter glanced up. In that moment, he looked so young to Oreius. Barely more than a child. Doubt pricked at the centaur. This was to be the High King? This was the oldest of the four they fought to make the rulers of Narnia, and he was no older than Oreius' smallest colt.

Oreius slowly sheathed his sword and took a few steps back. Peter turned back to the wolf, pointing his sword at the creature but not employing it, shoulders hunched. The wolf let out a low growl and Oreius recognized him as the Captain of the Witch's secret police. He wondered briefly why this was Peter's fight. Maugrim had hurt many in his service to the Witch.

"You may think you're a king," Maugrim suddenly growled out, hackles raised in preparation for attack, "But you're going to die, like a dog!" he lunged then, and Oreius had to force himself not to run forward and rescue the boy, to obey Aslan's wish. The two soon-to-be queens screamed. Behind him, Oreius could feel the tension in the other creatures looking on.

The wolf brought Peter to the ground, and the young boy disappeared beneath fur and paws and teeth. There was the longest moment in which Oreius was sure the creature had slain the young would-be king, and then the body of the wolf moved and Peter emerged, looking a little shocked but not injured. He pushed the wolf off him and hesitantly sat up, sword still in the carcass.

His sisters jumped down from their tree and rushed to their brother, throwing their arms around him and crying.

Oreius found the scene touching knowing how much these three had suffered, but the moment was soon broken by Aslan lifting up his paw and allowing the captive wolf who had no doubt helped Maugrim to antagonize the two girls into the tree to wiggle free.

The wolf jumped to its paws and ran away, tail between its legs.

"Follow him," Aslan ordered suddenly. "He will lead you to Edmund."

Peter lifted his head at this and his eyes met the eyes of the centaur General in an unspoken plea. Oreius unsheathed his sword once more and chased after the wolf, some of his best soldiers following after him without a word.

As he cantered along with the other beasts, Oreius couldn't help but feel annoyed at this order. Aslan wanted him to rescue the boy, the traitor who had willingly gone to the White Witch rather than stay with his siblings. He didn't understand how Aslan could feel pity for the traitor. If it were his choice, he would just leave the traitor with the Witch. He had gone to her, after all, and he'd wanted to; she hadn't forced him, and he'd done it to spite his siblings, from what Peter had told him during training. She would eventually punish him for his treachery, as she punished all traitors, and it would be no less than he deserved.

But he would obey Aslan, because, although Oreius did not think the boy deserved to be rescued, Aslan obviously did and Oreius would follow Aslan's orders to the death if need be.

As he was caught in these dark thoughts, Oreius lost sight of the wolf. Heaving a sigh, he glanced back at the cheetah behind him. "Did you see where it went?" he asked.

The cheetah nodded and took off in the opposite direction that Oreius had been going in, and, with a sigh, Oreius followed him.

The search for the Witch's camp was long. The wolf finally started to slow down in the middle of the night and Oreius knew that they were almost there when they reached the Western Wood. Oreius did not once lower his sword, expecting some agent of the witch to come out at any moment and protect the wolf. He was not surprised at the location. It wasn't very far from the Witch's castle, but allowed her to keep a better eye out for Aslan's army.

It was still dawn when the wolf led the band of warriors into a large, gloomy camp of dwarves and minotaurs making weapons. Oreius could feel the Witch's presence here. The dwarves looked up when the small band of warriors entered the forest clearing, and then raised the alarm. The cheetah dashed forward, taking care of a few of them, and another centaur attacked while Oreius searched the camp for the human traitor.

He finally spotted him, leaning against a tree, bound and gagged. The gag pulled his small face taut. He blinked in surprise that the traitor was not standing at the Witch's side, and was even more surprised when he saw the dwarf holding a whip and threatening him. There were numerous bruises and cuts on the boy's face, and he was wearing clothing similar to what his siblings had worn when they first entered Aslan's camp, though his looked a bit more worse for wear. Oreius did not see that he was wearing any shoes and his bloodied feet stuck out in front of him, marked with scars that could have only come from a whip.

He swallowed hard, all the anger he had been harboring against the traitor evaporating upon finally laying eyes on him.

"_He betrayed them."_

"_Then he has betrayed us all."_

Orieus flinched at his own harsh words upon seeing the battered child before him.

Oreius cantered forward, and bent down in front of the traitor. The traitor flinched, pulling away from him, straining against his bonds in an effort to get as far away from the centaur general as possible. Oreius tried to be gentle as he cut the boy loose, to show the traitor that he wasn't going to hurt him, but gentleness was not something he'd had great practice with and the traitor cringed as the sword cut into his skin a little. The cheetah rushed forward and helped, removing the traitor's gag and helping him to shaky feet.

The traitor pitched forward and would have fallen on his face if Oreius did not grab him and throw him onto his back. The traitor let out a grunt as he landed, and then the boy wrapped tiny arms around Oreius' midsection and clung to him tightly.

The dwarf who had been taunting him quickly replaced the boy at his place against the tree, squeaking and protesting loudly, but no help came from the rest of the camp.

Oreius thought he saw the barest, smallest of grins touch the traitor's face when the dwarf was tied up, but it vanished the moment he saw Oreius looking, as if he were afraid of what Oreius would do to him if he saw him happy for even a second. The traitor's split lip quivered a little and he buried his face in Oreius' long hair.

Then the band was off, leaving the camp from the way they had come, and leaving it much the same but for a few dead beasts and a missing traitor.

They ran for a long time, Oreius determined to reach Aslan's camp before morning. Once, the cheetah convinced the centaur to stop and give the traitor a moment to catch his breath.

"Are you all right?" the cheetah asked the child as he slid down from the centaur's back and took the skin of water that one of the creatures offered him.

The boy took the water hesitantly and then lifted it to his bloody, parched lips, gulping it down as if he hadn't had anything to drink in days. The band watched him in silence.

The traitor did not speak. When he finished with the water, he handed it back as if this were one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do and lowered his head in thanks. Oreius wondered if the Witch had cut out the child's tongue. He was too quiet.

Grabbing the boy by the scruff of the neck, Oreius plucked him up off the ground and returned him to his back. They started off without another word, the boy clinging to him silently once more.

It was not until they reached Aslan's camp that the human child made any sort of noise, and this was only a small gasp as the centaur stopped on the cliffs overlooking the camp. The cheetah and the other creatures continued on, climbing down the rock face and going to tell Aslan the boy had been rescued.

But Aslan was already standing outside his tent, eyes watching the traitor with an intense, but kind gaze. The traitor squirmed on the centaur's back underneath that gaze which seemed to pierce across the camp.

"Are you ready boy?" the centaur asked gently. The boy glanced up sharply. The centaur elaborated, "Aslan wants to speak with you. You're safe here, Edmund."

Slowly, Edmund nodded. Then he coughed and whispered, "Yes. I'm ready."

The End


End file.
